Friday, February 24, 2012
The council votes unanimously to send letter to air quality district that originated in neighboring Cupertino.
Taking a cue from Cupertino, the Los Altos Hills Town Council voted unanimously to send a letter to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) supporting stricter standards for the Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant and Quarry. “What we’re really trying to do is send a political message that says you’re under a lot more scrutiny than you were before, please don’t screw it up,” Councilmember Gary Waldeck said during the council’s discussion on Thursday, Feb. 16. The letter from Los Altos Hills Mayor Rich Larsen is nearly identical to the one crafted by the Cupertino City Council in January, in collaboration with local Sierra Club leader Gary Latshaw. Waldeck distributed the Cupertino letter during the town council meeting, suggesting…
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Citizens at a Los Altos Hills forum push for more regulation and even an end to operations, despite a consultant's report of low health risk from the Lehigh Southwest Permanente cement plant.
From Monday night's workshop at Los Altos Hills Town Hall, it's clear that the concern over health risks from the Lehigh Southwest Cement plant is not going away. Although a consulting company reviewed data recently and found the risk to Los Altos and Los Altos Hills from the plant and quarry is small, concern from an engaged audience of residents kept experts busy answering questions for two hours. Representatives from Iris Environmental, the company hired by the two cities to study data pertaining to Lehigh’s impact, as well as from two government agencies charged with regulating the company’s operations just outside of Cupertino, were peppered with written questions—some highly detailed, others sharp with criticism. “The easy way for …
37.383906
-122.13832
Los Altos Hills Town Hall
26379 W Fremont Rd, Los Altos Hills, CA
/articles/residents-query-officials-on-lehigh-health-risk
99470
/locations/6336801
37.322206
-122.078434
24001 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA
Lehigh Southwest Cement Permanente Quarry
/articles/residents-query-officials-on-lehigh-health-risk
/locations/6336802
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The report sought by Los Altos and Los Altos Hills analyzing the data collected in the air and in Permanente Creek is released and a public forum is scheduled for Feb. 6.
The risk of adverse health effects from the Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant on Los Altos and Los Altos Hills residents is small, a consultant retained by the cities has reported. The report, a technical memo that reviews all data about Lehigh is posted on South Bay Quarry Library, a website that both cities created to gather all known reports on the quarry. It will be discussed at a public forum on Monday in the Los Altos Hills Town Hall, 6 to 8:30 p.m. "The paraphrased opinion is that, while not zero, the estimated health risks to Los Altos Los Altos Hills residents due to the quarry’s emissions are considered to be small," said Los Altos Hills Vice Mayor Gary Waldeck. Waldeck, with Los Altos City Council members Ron Packard and David …
37.383906
-122.13832
Los Altos Hills Town Hall
26379 W Fremont Rd, Los Altos Hills, CA
Public forum Monday, Feb. 6, 6-8:30 p.m.
/articles/consultant-lehigh-emissions-health-risk-small
99470
/locations/6305042
Friday, August 26, 2011
Club alleges elevated levels of selenium and other toxins are threatening wildlife; will sue under Clean Water Act if discharges don't stop within 60 days.
Charging that Lehigh Southwest Cement is dumping elevated levels of selenium and other toxins into Permanente Creek and San Francisco Bay, the Sierra Club stepped into the legal fray against the company, saying it will sue under the Clean Water Act if discharges do not stop within 60 days. In one specific instance, the club said that Lehigh’s own documentation shows “that quarry pit wastewater that Lehigh discharges in the creek has been a staggering 16 times higher than Clean Water Act stream standards,” for certain toxins, according to a statement released Wednesday. The statement added that in popular Rancho San Antonio County Park, immediately downstream from the plant, pollution is “especially dangerous” where selenium concentrations …
37.322206
-122.078434
Lehigh Southwest Cement
24001 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA
/articles/sierra-club-threatens-suit-against-lehigh-for-permanente-creek-pollution
105711
/locations/5202453
Monday, March 14, 2011
State water board issues notice of violation for unpermitted discharges into Permanente Creek; Los Altos and Los Altos Hills continue scrutiny.
The Lehigh Southwest Cement quarry came under further scrutiny last week, in part after revelations that the company is possibly discharging millions of gallons of unpermitted water containing sediment and toxins into Permanente Creek and San Francisco Bay. Officials from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board were at the quarry outside Cupertino on Wednesday to study the situation, after having sent a notice of violation to Lehigh officials in February stating that the company is violating its storm drain permit and must apply for a more stringent permit. On Tuesday the Los Altos City Council had voted to support further study by a joint committee with the Los Altos Hills City Council. Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard and Los …
37.322206
-122.078434
24001 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA
/articles/lehigh-quarry-under-microscope-for-possible-water-violations
/locations/3683200
37.381353
-122.114166
1 N San Antonio Rd, Los Altos, CA
/articles/lehigh-quarry-under-microscope-for-possible-water-violations
/locations/3683201
37.32525
-122.041479
10185 N Stelling Rd, Cupertino, CA
/articles/lehigh-quarry-under-microscope-for-possible-water-violations
/locations/3683202
Friday, February 18, 2011
Fact-finding committee of City Council members place documents online for public to view.
Two newly created fact-finding committees of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills city councils have jointly created a website for residents who want to look at documents and data involving the Lehigh cement quarry operations. The South Bay Quarry Library went up late Thursday to make information available to the public when obtained or as it is submitted to its "librarian," said Gary Waldeck, Los Altos Hills Town Council member and a member of the ad-hoc committee working with the Los Altos City Council's committee. The intent, he said, is to collect and place all of it on one site to be kept current. Residents in both cities approached the Los Altos and Los Altos Hills councils late last year with concerns about the health issues stemming from…
Gary Latshaw
10:49 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012
Robert Cave is wrong when he says that BAAQMD cannot impose stricter limits on Lehigh because the facility is neither new or modified. US Public Health Code 42 USC 7416 allows the state to impose stricter limits on emissions than EPA regulations. This is simply a matter of BAAQMD deciding to perform its obligations to the citizens and enforce the most feasible regulations for the public health. more ›